6 random things that happened on this day in showbiz history
1797 Mary Shelley born. She lived in infamy during her time as a disgraced woman who ran off with an already married man but she'll live forever due to her epistolary novel "Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus," which has had countless editions since its first publication when she was only 20 years old. The book has inspired countless other works of art and the classic Frankenstein monster itself has shown up in over 50 films. Did any of you watch the Mary Shelley biopic starring Elle Fanning earlier this year? Murtada interviewed the director right here.
← 1935 Greta Garbo is Anna Karenina, new in movie theaters. Garbo will win the NYFCC prize, the first of two Best Actress wins in a three year span. Surprisingly, that's not all that rare of a trick...
Olivia de Havilland, Jane Fonda, Liv Ullman, Meryl Streep, and Saoirse Ronan all did it in subsequent decades, too, though de Havilland is the only actress to win two consecutively. Basically when New York Film Critics latch on with love, they hold tight for awhile. Oscar wasn't as generous with Garbo. She wasn't nominated for this film and she never won competitively.
1943 Happy 75th birthday to legendary cartoonist Robert Crumb born in Philly on this day.
1974 The Longest Yard , one of the top ten hits of its year, opens in theaters. It stars Burt Reynolds leading a prison football game with convicts against the guards. Burt later gets a cameo in the remake.
1985 Susan Sarandon and Joe Mantegna star in Compromising Positions new in theaters. But if I remember it correctly, Judith Ivey steals the movie.
1986 The Venice Film Festival begins. Eric Rohmer's The Green Ray wins the Golden Lion but it's not as well loved at home where it receives zero Cesar nominations. For their Oscar submission France chooses the explicitly sexual arthouse hit Betty Blue.
1993 Late Show with David Letterman, premieres on CBS (after Letterman leaves Late Night with David Letterman on NBC). Bill Murray was the first guest. It will run for another 22 years until Letterman's retirement.
Showbiz Birthdays: Elizabeth Ashley, Lewis Black, Joan Blondell, Shirley Booth, Timothy Bottoms, Michael Chiklis, Elden Henson, Jessica Henwick, Marin Ireland, Peggy Lipton, Fred MacMurray, Raymond Massey, David Paymer, Tennis star Andy Roddick, Julien Schoenaerts (Matthias's dad), and Singer Kitty Wells
Today's Birthday Suit: Cameron Diaz. We miss her in movies.
